It is known in the art to eavesdrop on communications (such as voice calls) performed by a wireless device connected to a private network to a recipient on a public network. This involves allowing, on one hand, the wireless device to actively connect and communicate (e.g. call, incoming or outgoing) via a private network, and on the other hand, using a modem to impersonate the identity of the wireless device and place a call on its' behalf on the public network, to a recipient. By controlling both sides of such a setup, one can eavesdrop on the communication occurring between the wireless device and its recipient.
It is known in the art for a non-authorized third party such as an eavesdropper, to move an idle wireless device to a public network operator (handoff).
However, it is non-trivial and not obvious for a non-authorized third party to be able to perform a seamless-handoff—to handoff a device while that device is engaged in communication (e.g. phone call), i.e. when the device is non-idle. While there are published methods for non-idle handoff, they all result in severing the communication of the wireless device, which is deleterious as this may alert the user to the presence of eavesdropping.
Moreover, even when the above is achieved, any eavesdropping capability is lost in prior art once the wireless device stops communicating with the private network and moves to the public network. Being able to accomplish seamless handoff to a public network while maintaining communication and eavesdropping capabilities at the same time is non-trivial and not obvious to accomplish.
Thus, it would be advantageous to enable continuous, uninterrupted communication, including but not limited to, voice call and handoff of a wireless device (e.g., a mobile phone) to a public network, while eavesdropping to communications throughout the entire process, until such communications stop.